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  • Locations: Cairo, Egypt
  • Program Terms: Fall, Spring
  • Program Sponsor: Global E3 
Program Description:

The American University in Cairo 
Cairo, EGYPT

University Info   |   School of Sciences and Engineering Info   |   International Student Info

Fast Facts

  • Cairo — AUC's biggest classroom. A vibrant, historical city in the heart of the Middle East.
  • State-of-the-art campus and facilities with top international faculty, and fully accredited in Egypt and the United States.
  • AUC Library - The largest English-language collection in the region
  • Career Services and Advising – educating students and alumni for lifelong career planning
  • The University offers 36 undergraduate, 44 master’s and two PhD programs rooted in a liberal arts education that encourages students to think critically and find creative solutions to conflicts and challenges facing both the region and the world.
  • High-quality liberal arts education: encourages students to think critically and examine their role in the world, and promotes responsible citizenship and collaborative solutions to resolve local, regional and global issues.

Introduction

The American University in Cairo, founded in 1919, is an independent, nonprofit, non-sectarian and equal-opportunity institution, fully accredited in Egypt and the United States. AUC’s academic programs, rooted in the liberal arts, contribute to the social, political and cultural life of the Arab world. AUC also serves as a crossroads for the world’s cultures: a vital, vibrant forum for reasoned argument, spirited debate, and understanding across cultures.

Through its six schools, AUC offers more than 30 undergraduate majors and 15 graduate programs serving approximately 6,500 students, as well as educational opportunities to enhance the professional and job skills of more than 40,000 non-degree students. Guiding these exceptional students is a faculty of more than 300 professional and dedicated scholars who hold advanced degrees from leading universities around the world.

School of Sciences and Engineering (SSE)

Within the context of the liberal arts approach to education to which AUC is committed, the School of Sciences and Engineering offers degree programs in the natural sciences, mathematics, actuarial science and computer science as well as an extensive array of engineering programs. A distinguishing feature of the School is the prominence given to laboratory instruction. Practical hands-on experience complements and reinforces the lecture courses. Efficiently managed and well-equipped laboratories are an important pedagogical and research asset in the School.

Students are educated to acquire an appreciation of their responsibilities to society and to prepare themselves for successful careers and leadership. The School provides an environment in which students develop their critical thinking capabilities, problem solving skills, communication skills, and proficiency in the tools of learning.

Terms of Exchange

Study Level

  • Undergraduate students: Accepted
  • Graduate students: Accepted under special circumstances
  • Computer Science majors: Accepted

Eligibility Requirements

  • Non-degree students must submit the same application materials as degree-seeking students.
  • Complete a minimum of 30 credit hours with a satisfactory cumulative G.P.A. Most qualified candidates will be selected.
  • Submit either valid international TOEFL or academic IELTS scores for admission consideration. A minimum of 83 in TOEFL total score and 22 in writing or a minimum of 6.5 in IELTS band score and 7 in writing is required.
  • Students from universities with English language as the official and main means of instruction, may be exempted from submitting the TOEFL or IELTS scores. This will also depend on the evaluation of the applicants' transcripts during admission process.
  • Finally, you can find admission application as well as checklist of required documents at https://www.applyweb.com/auc/index.ftl

Language of Instruction

English

English Proficiency Requirements

Students who are non-native speakers of English are required to take the TOEFL or IELTS if they have attended less than three semesters at a university where the language of instruction is English.

For students who need to take an English-proficiency test:

  • Minimum TOEFL scores – 83
  • Minimum IELTS score – 6.5 overall (7 in writing)

Study Period

Fall, Spring, or Academic Year

Academic Calendar   |   Semester Dates (including exam period)

  • Fall: First week in September to the end of the third week of December
  • Spring: Late January to the end of the third week of May

Academic Information

Disciplines and Departments Available

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computer Science and Engineering
  • Construction and Architectural Engineering
  • Electronics and Communications Engineering
  • Mathematics and Actuarial Science
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Petroleum and Energy Engineering
  • Physics

All the science and engineering programs listed above are available as well as computer science, math, and the natural sciences. Exchange students can also take courses in the humanities, social sciences, and business for which they are qualified. They can take credit-bearing courses in modern standard Arabic and/or Egyptian colloquial Arabic, at the appropriate level, as part of their regular course load. It is expected that students will wish to take courses related to Middle East history, culture, politics, economics, and/or society in addition to courses in their major.

Restricted Disciplines and Courses

Engineering programs and courses

Course Contents

Course Descriptions   |   Schedule of Classes

Most classes meet Sunday/Wednesday or Monday/Thursday for an hour and fifteen minutes each, starting at 8:30 a.m. Laboratory sessions meet once a week for three hours. Graduate classes meet in the evening for three hours, once a week.

The academic advising and placement in courses for exchange students are handled by International Academic Advising – ipoadvisors@aucegypt.edu

Enrollment Requirements

  • The new resident visa policy indicates that non-degree-seeking students will not be allowed to register for less than three graduate courses or four undergraduate courses to maintain the full-time status mandated by the resident visa policy.
  • Complete physical examination by a medical doctor including laboratory results of a recent HIV test.

Workload per Semester

Undergraduates must take a minimum of 12 credits per semester and may take no more than 15 credits, and Graduates must take a minimum of 9 credits per semester and may take no more than 12 credits as part of the exchange program. If students want to take additional credits, they must be paid for according to AUC’s per-credit tuition rate.

Additional Application Materials

Students nominated by IIE to AUC need to fill out the AUC form.

Recommendation letter from a professor or academic staff:

  • Optional for Global E3 Application. Letter of recommendation may be required by host university as part of the host university application process.

AUC has rolling admissions for international non-degree students. Exchange students should expect to be notified of admissions approximately five weeks after IIE submits their application to AUC.

Housing

Accommodations are available to exchange students on the New Cairo campus. Students who choose to live in a dormitory will be directly billed by AUC.

Estimated Cost of Living

Food/meals

Approximately $3,000 for the semester ($600 a month). Students living on the new campus can cook in the dormitory. Meals can be purchased from food outlets on the New Cairo campus.

Housing

Information on the dormitories and their cost is available on the Office of international Students website.

Students must pay online a $325 housing deposit ($300 housing deposit and $25 application fee) when they fill out the housing application. The $300 deposit is refunded after the student arrives.

Local transportation

AUC provides buses and mini-vans that follow 17 different routes between various parts of the city and the New Cairo campus. The student bus pass per semester costs $300. Inexpensive taxis and the metro (subway) are available within the city.

Academic expenses (e.g. books, stationery)

Textbooks and supplies are estimated at $350 per semester. Courses with labs have fees of $80-110.

Personal expenses

Estimated at $1,250 per semester ($250 per month), but varying according to the kind of travel within and outside Egypt that students want to enjoy.

Required administrative fees

Mandatory student services & activities fee: $100 per semester
Mandatory medical service fee: $100 per semester
Mandatory comprehensive insurance fee: $140 per semester
Mandatory Study Abroad Orientation fee: $175

Contact

Office Responsible for International Exchange Students

International Programs Office   |   rana.elshabrawy@aucegypt.edu 

City Info

Cairo is a vibrant, complex city with nearly 20 million inhabitants. There are activities available for people of any and every interest – all kinds of music, art, theatre, and movies; religious and cultural sites ranging from the ancient through Coptic and Islamic to the contemporary; sports clubs, exercise places, and horseback and camel riding at the Giza and Sakkara pyramids. The Community Services Association (CSA) in the suburb of Ma’adi helps foreigners adjust to the city.

The website above links to several travel guides and also lists guides to restaurants. The website only lists expensive hotels; there are a wide range of hotels downtown and in Zamalek that are affordable to students.

Alexandria is 2.5 hours away by train; Bahariya, the closest oasis, is a four-hour bus ride; and the beaches at Ain Sukhna on the Gulf of Suez are just two hours away. Luxor and Aswan can be reached by overnight train or by an approximately two-hour plane ride. And Egypt’s central location makes it easy to fly elsewhere in the Middle East, East Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean for the holidays.